


Sick Day

by c_curculio



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, menstruation tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_curculio/pseuds/c_curculio
Summary: Gordon wakes up to an unpleasant situation; his husband does what he can to make him feel better.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 26
Kudos: 192





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This ficlet is about a trans guy who gets his period, so if that kind of thing upsets you, then I recommend not reading this. 
> 
> Disclaimer 2: I myself am a trans guy

The shifting of the mattress was what had woken him up. Groggily pushing himself into a sitting position, Barney watched in the darkness as Gordon made a beeline for their bathroom. A quick look at the clock confirmed that it was way too early for either of them to be getting ready for work. 

Flicking on the light, Barney froze when he saw blood already drying on the sheets. Oh. 

Pushing his sleepiness aside, he stood, quickly tugging the blankets and fitted sheets from off their shitty mattress and bundling them up in his arms. Barney grabbed his cell phone on the way downstairs to their laundry room, dialing into the attendance office at work. 

The call picked up on the third ring. Davis must’ve been dozing off. “Black Mesa Atten-”

“Hey, Fred. It’s Barney. Mr. Freeman and I aren’t gonna be able to make it into work today.” 

There was a brief moment of silence on the line, presumably as his co-worker was pulling up their employee profiles. “Is everything alright?” 

Barney dumped the sheets, as well as some OxiClean, into their washing machine. “Yeah, Gordon isn’t feeling too great,” he said, only half-lying. “I’m gonna keep an eye on him in case he gets worse. I dunno if he somehow got what Jerry had, or…” He turned the temperature knob to ‘cold’ before starting it up. 

“Hopefully not. I do hope your husband feels better, though… Alright, I have you covered.” 

Thanking him, Barney hung up, grabbing some fresh sheets before heading towards the kitchen. In the fridge, behind his beer and some leftover Chinese food, he had hidden a few brownies he’d snuck out of an office party. Pulling them out, he placed them into the microwave; by the time they were done, he’d scooped out some vanilla ice cream into a bowl, and he placed the warm brownies on top. Tucking the sheets under his arm, he made his way back upstairs with the ice cream and a bottle of Motrin. 

He had just finished making the bed when Gordon emerged from the bathroom, eyes red from crying. [I didn’t mean to wake you up,] he signed at Barney. 

“Shh, don’t worry about it, hon,” Barney reassured him gently. “I already called into work. I told Davis that you were sick so we could both stay home, and I- I got some ice cream together for you.” 

Sliding back into bed, Gordon pulled his knees up to his chest. [Pain medicine?]

“Right here. You want me to make you some tea? A-and I can throw the blankets into the dryer for a bit so they’ll get nice and warm,” he offered. 

Gordon almost looked like he was about to cry again. [Yes to both,] he signed. 

It wasn’t long before they were curled up together, Gordon leaning against Barney’s chest as they watched The NeverEnding Story, a partially-consumed mug of tea clutched in his hands and a small smile on his face. Barney could tell he was still physically uncomfortable, but he was doing better than he had been when he’d been awoken earlier.


End file.
